Edge of a Revolution
by squarecircles
Summary: So, you want to know where he went? First, you need to know why it started. To do that, you need to know my story. So let me tell you what happened. Let me tell you how I became the Champion. Let me tell you how I set off a revolution. AU, same universe as Shattered Thrones. To be rated M once the violence starts getting real gory.
1. Not so Humble

**What do we want?**

 **We want change!**

 **How we gonna get that?**

 **Revolution!**

 **The Champion's Declaration to the Unovan People**

* * *

They called me the Champion. They told you that I was the most powerful person alive. That I could shape continents with my will. They didn't tell you the whole truth. Don't get me wrong, my position does give me untold power across Unova. However, it's all a lie. I'm not the most powerful man on the planet. I'm not your saviour. That happy pleasure goes to The Spectre, and by extension his Flame. I'm just a washed up old man looking for a second chance at life.

My team? They're still around. At least some of them are. I'm sure you know that much. I'm sure the spooks at the League briefed you all about me. They told you all about what happened in that fucking castle. They told you all about Hilda, and N, and Ghestis, didn't they? I'll even bet that they told you what happened two years after that.

So you're one of the spooks. I figured you'd be here sooner or later. How are things back at the League? I bet they sent you down here to figure out how to stop him. There might be a way, but you'll need to know why he's doing it. So you'll have to let me tell you the real story. I'm not gonna cut out the gory bits either. Let me tell you how I became the Champion, and in the process set the world on this path to destruction.

Maybe, if you listen properly, I'll even tell you where he is.

* * *

I started out just like every other aspiring idiot trainer. I had my rival, my friend, my starter, and a lofty ass goal. I didn't have any clue what the world was really like. I didn't know how to survive out in the real world.

That's the reason most trainers wash out of the system within their few weeks. None of our schools taught survival classes. They didn't teach us how to find yourself food, or clean drinking water, or what to bring with you. And they wondered why the mortality rate for starting trainers was so damn high… The kids leaving home at fifteen to search for glory didn't have a hope in hell. Most didn't know how to brave the elements, much less deal with the hordes of angry pokemon that were pissed off about the stupid kid that just trampled their nest.

I'm exaggerating a little bit, you understand. It's not like the roads were paved with bones of kids who didn't know what they were doing. Most of them went home, giving up after a night or two of sleeping out in the cold. Still, kids went missing often enough that training was viewed as a dead-end job to most. If you succeeded then you were practically a god, but barely anyone ever succeeded. Still, the potential was there and everyone who had any ambition would give it a shot.

I was different though. I fucking taught myself how to survive. I read up on every survival guide I could find. I studied under Professor Juniper, learning everything I could about pokemon. By the time I hit fifteen I was a fucking prodigy. I knew just about everything there was to know about both caring for pokemon and killing them. Even with all my preparation, I still wasn't ready for the real world. All the knowledge in the world doesn't help unless you can break that knowledge down and apply it to the real world.

What I'm trying to get across is that there is no substitute for real experience. You'd be surprised how many times I almost starved to death, or how many times I was nearly torn apart by an angry wild pokemon. I still have trouble out there sometimes. The world just doesn't give up on trying to kill you… And we expected kids to take on the wilds without any proper training. That just goes to show you how fucked up everything was.

By the time I figured out how the fuck to take on the world, I'd already gotten halfway through the damn gym challenge. After four badges, and more than a year of work I'd finally gotten the hang of being on my own in the wild. Even then it still wasn't easy.

You remember how the whole Pokemon Liberation Movement started? No? I'll refresh you then. A creepy motherfucker named Ghestis got himself some weird distortion powers. He twisted some idealistic kid into forming the Pokemon Liberation Movement as a front for his real goal of capturing the gods and using their power to control all of Unova. Of course, we didn't know about any of that at the time. At the time, they seemed like just another environmentalist organization.

I first ran into them back in Accumula, a year before they really made their intentions known. It was a shitty day, and I'd just come out of the Pokemon Centre.

* * *

Hilda stepped out of the door in front of me, shooting me the same flirty look she always did. The girl always knew I had a thing for her, and took pleasure in holding that against me every step of the trip to Accumula.

"Cut it out," I said. "There's no point in rubbing it in."

"Course there is." She answered, as sarcastic as ever. "It's fun watching you squirm."

She was right of course. She was always right. She knew that I'd do the same to her if our roles were switched. Which only made it more infuriating.

"You've been after me since you were thirteen," She said. "You'd think that maybe you'd have got the hint after the first twenty rejections." A faint smile tugged at the edges of her mouth, betraying her emotions.

"I'm afraid I don't get hints very well." I joked. "Comes with being a stubborn bastard."

A shout drew her attention, cutting off our conversation. A line of about thirty men had formed in Accumula's town square. They kept waving everyone over, and telling us that they were gonna be making an announcement. At first I thought they were cosmonauts, because of those ridiculous outfits that looked like something out of a bad space-opera. Then Ghestis stepped out from the formation, and I swear he cast some sort of spell on the crowd.

Every single person in that crowd shut right up. All our eyes were on Ghestis, even if we didn't want them to be. He looked right at me, almost as if he knew who I was and what I was going to do. I felt my heart stop beating, and a chill go down my spine. Then he moved on, and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. The only rational part of my brain was wondering why the man had a sceptre.

He kept at it, studying the crowd for what felt like hours. Then he finally spoke, and I nearly shat my pants right then and there.

"People of Unova!" He called. "Hear me!"

There was something about his voice that made me want to crawl in a hole and cry. I later chalked it up to all the freaky distortion experiments that the crazy fuck performed on himself, but at the time it sounded like the devil itself was speaking to me.

"For too long, pokemon have suffered under our oppression. We use them as tools, fuelling everything from industry to war" He said. His voice wasn't a shout, but somehow it carried over the crowd nonetheless. "No longer! The Pokemon Liberation Movement calls on you. Release your pokemon from their prisons! Set them free! Join us in our war to free pokemon from human oppression!"

I would have turned and run right then and there had Hilda not been beside me. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and I'd be damned if I left her here. So I did one of the dumbest things I've ever done. Seriously, this is right up there with my trip into a scolipede nest. I stood up to that malevolent bastard.

"No" I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. I don't know to this day how he heard me, but his head whipped around and he looked directly at me. That was the first time I really looked into his eyes. Those glassy greys looked right into your goddamn soul. They fucking stared into your nightmares and kept you up all damn night.

"No?" He asked. "Then may the gods have mercy on your soul." He turned as if to leave, but stopped. "Hell itself will open for you."

I didn't say anything, I physically couldn't. All that man's attention was on me, and it had me frozen to the damn spot. Hilda shifted and it snapped me out of whatever trance I was in. "No." I repeated, my balls growing back. "I will not release my pokemon because it is not imprisoned. It is not a slave, it is a partner."

I sounded brave as shit, despite the quivering of my voice. Vermais and I had been inseparable for almost an entire year, I knew what I was talking about. The stupid oshawott followed me everywhere, even before I'd been given his pokeball. Like it or not, I was stuck with him. We were partners whether I liked it or not. Truthfully, when Juniper had given Hilda and I a pokemon each, Vermais was not my first choice. Originally, I wanted the snivy. Hilda quashed that when she claimed it before I'd even arrived at the lab that morning. So Vermais and I were stuck together.

He took a breath before he spoke, leaving me in silence. "If you say Mr Blake." My heart skipped a few beats as he turned and walked away, followed by the men in their space suits. Everyone in that crowd watched them leave, glued to the spot by whatever aura Ghestis was emitting.

That short conversation became a legend after the fucking castle. I suppose it's not without reason, but it's still creepy when I see myself on the TV screens staring him down. I'll tell you that I looked a hell of a lot braver than I felt. All of it took maybe five minutes maximum, but it felt like hours. Hilda and I didn't really talk to each other after that, we were too shaken up. We just kinda made our way north, knowing that's the way our first gym challenge was waiting.

N Harmonia… To a lot of people he was a saviour. He was a figure of righteousness when people needed one most. The Hero of Ideals, although he wouldn't become that for a long time. When I first met him he was a lost soul. He was searching for some greater purpose to life or something, I don't really remember how he said it. We found him less than half a day after departing Accumula, just staring at the sunset.

Hilda pointed him out, noticing the broody bastard's bright green hair. I'll give it to him, he knew how to get to a lady's heart a hell of a lot faster than I did. Must've been the whole tortured soul vibe he gave off. And hey, after what he went through he deserved a little companionship. Only one problem, Hilda was my girl. She was my friend, and I'd be damned if I let some green haired shit worm his way into her heart.

"What's a person like you doing out here alone?" She asked. "Couldn't find a friend to come with you?"

He spun around clearly startled. The purrloin he had been lavishing attention on arched its back and hissed at me, completely ignoring everyone else. He studied it for a moment before raising an eyebrow at me. "He doesn't like you. Odd."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe he's got bad taste?" I was damn cocky back then, and I wasn't gonna let this green haired pretty boy upstage me in front of Hilda.

He shook his head, frowning. "No, he says…" He trailed off, looking into my eyes. "You have a path to walk."

"The fuck does that mean?" I asked.

He completely ignored me, instead looking up and down my person. His eyes dropped to my waist, finding my pair of pokeballs. "Are you a trainer?" He asked, suddenly changing the subject. "If so, I would like to battle you."

I smiled ever so slightly, confidence swelling. "Damn right I am. One-on-one, unrestricted until we're out?"

He paused, considering my request. Then he nodded, revealing the trio of balls at his belt. He looked at Hilda and smiled. "Care to officiate for us?" He asked.

She nodded, taking her place as I took my own. "The battle between Hilbert Blake and…" She paused, not knowing his name.

"N Harmonia!" He called, filling in his name for her.

"R-Right." She stuttered. "The battle will last until either of the participants have run out of pokemon. There will be no substitutions, and withdrawal of a pokemon will signify its defeat." She paused, looking at me nervously. I shot her a confident grin, getting a smile out of her. "May the best trainer win." She said, and I steeled myself for the battle.

To this day, I'm still proud of the showing my pokemon put in. That was my first official trainer battle, and it's a miracle N didn't wipe the floor with me in his first few moves. I hefted my first pokeball, as did N. "Front and centre, Shepard!" My little lillipup appeared, growling across the field at the lillipup that N had released.

Hilda looked back and forth at us. "Begin!" She shouted.

N didn't move, didn't say anything, and his lillipup had Shep on his side. It's jaws clamped down on Shep's leg and I winced in pain. I'd been on the receiving end of Shep's bite when I caught him, and I knew that had to hurt. Shep squealed, the first acknowledgement of pain that I'd heard from the pokemon since I'd caught it three days earlier. He flailed wildly, trying to right himself but failing.

"Shep, roll free." I ordered, trying not to panic, scrambling to think of a strategy that my newly caught pokemon might understand. My brave little pokemon rolled, pulling the lillipup with it. It released Shep's leg and launched itself at my pokemon without an order from N. Shep puffed out his chest and braced himself against the tackle. The pokemon collided in a swirl of flashing teeth.

I shouted frantically, rapidly losing control of the flow of the battle. My little Shep went on the offensive for me, beating the lillipup back. He tackled it repeatedly, forcing it deeper into N's half of the field. Then, the unthinkable happened. N's lillipup moved faster than I had thought possible, leaping on Shep's back. It's jaws clamped onto the base of Shep's neck, and twisted its head, driving Shep into the dirt.

"Return him!" N shouted. "He cannot win, there is no point in continuing his battle."

I ignored him, shouting an order to attack. Shep couldn't move, couldn't fight back. N was right, Shep was beaten. I just couldn't accept it so easily. N's lillipup twisted its head again, tearing a chunk of flesh free and coating itself in a spurt of Shep's blood.

"Return him now. I will not warn you again."

I held up my ball, returning my wounded lillipup to his ball. His lillipup licked its chops clean of Shep's blood and sat back on its haunches. I signalled Hilda for a timeout, nearly breaking down.

"There is no shame in surrender." He said innocently. "Especially if it is done to save those in your service."

I didn't say anything, just lifted my remaining ball and silently hoped that I wouldn't need to forfeit the battle entirely. "Vermais! Report!" The little blue pokemon appeared, planting its feet in the dirt. My starter, my proud little soldier knew that tone all too well. He stared down the lillipup, fury not suiting his awkward form.

My awkward little soldier didn't question the somber look on my face, or the grim expression Hilda was sporting. He spat a jet of water into the dirt and I could tell that he was ready to fight.

"Onwards then?" N mused, more to himself than to me. "Very well, your move."

I wasted no time, ordering my oshawott forwards. It dashed forward, met by the charging lillipup. Vermais swung his round head, using it as a battering ram to beat the lillipup back. Vermais and I had worked together for well over a year at that point, so I knew what was coming when he backed off and let the lillipup regain control of the field.

The lillipup darted forward, attempting to seize the opening that Vermais had given it. Vermais drew back his head and spat a jet of water directly into the lillipup's face. It doesn't sound like much, but I'd seen Vermais crack open boldore with the same move. I knew that that lillipup was feeling a whole hell of a lot of pain right now, and I was completely fine with that.

I ordered Vermais forward again, cursing that lillipup with every other word. Vermais beat the lillipup into the ground with his head, then drew back to blast it with a jet of water again. Before he could deliver the blow, a flash of red light sucked the lillipup back into its ball. Vermais glared at N, furious that his quarry had been stolen from him.

I couldn't smile, no matter how satisfied I was with Vermais' victory. I was still angry that he'd beaten Shep so badly all just to teach me a lesson.

That green haired prick just smiled at me. "Your oshawott is very well trained." He said, no hint of malice in his voice. He paused, listening to the series of growls that my Vermais emitted. He laughed. "And very vulgar too. Did you teach him that language?"

I broke into a grin, despite the situation. I didn't know how the bastard could understand Vermais, but I was glad that the little oshawott had picked up on some of my more colourful language. It seemed that I was rubbing off on my partner.

N brandished his second ball, and released a patrat. My grin practically tore itself off my face. Vermais had been professor Juniper's best exterminator since he had been old enough to fight, and as young as our journey was he'd gotten so much stronger since we'd left home. Patrat were nothing to him, not even a nuisance.

"Vermais…" I started. "Tear it to pieces."

My oshawott grinned evilly at the prospect. N's patrat opened the battle, rushing towards Vermais. Vermais simply drew his head back and blasted the patrat with a jet of water. N returned it quickly, robbing me of another chance at returning N's beating.

"Backing down?" I asked tauntingly.

"Simply withdrawing from a hopeless battle." He answered calmly. "My patrat had no chance at victory. Forcing it to continue fighting would have been cruel."

Oh, that got my blood boiling alright. I knew an insult when I heard one, especially when it was veiled under words like those. "No battle is hopeless." I said, barely stopping my hands from shaking. I had to believe that, you understand. I'd just let my pokemon get beaten within an inch of its life because I was too stubborn to swallow my pride.

At the time, I was still angry. I thought that Vermais was invincible. I couldn't have been more wrong. N sent out that purrloin, and I thought I had another easy victory. You'll understand if I don't want to recount that particular fight. It's still painful for me. Vermais too. You'll never get the proud bastard to admit that a purrloin kicked his ass so bad that I had to carry him back to Accumula in his ball.

I recalled Vermais, pride and pokemon wounded. N, the smug bastard that he was, smiled at me. "Good." He said. "I hope you've learned your lesson. I take no pleasure in inflicting pain on pokemon who are only servants to their master's will. It pains me to battle, but sometimes the pain is a necessary evil." He looked at me, and frowned. "Do you think that in doing good it is sometimes necessary to do evil?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, and didn't answer.

"I suppose you haven't given it much thought" he said. "I do hope that we meet again. Perhaps you will have the answer to my question when we do." He recalled the purrloin, and with a curt smile to Hilda he strode away.

Hilda came back to me, knowing my pride was wounded. "You ok?" She asked cautiously.

"We need to heal him." I said, ignoring her question.

She nodded and looked back towards Accumula. "We can be there before sunset if we hurry."

I turned to face her, wearing a weak smile. "We better get going then. The sooner he's healed, the sooner he can go back to the wild."

That shocked her. She knew how much capturing Shep had meant to me. She knew that it was proof to myself that I could be a trainer. I expected her to try to change my mind. To talk me out of it. I guess Ghestis had gotten through to her, because she didn't say a word on the walk back to Accumula. Neither of us did.

* * *

 _Hello everyone, and welcome to Edge of a Revolution. This is intended to be a fic that bridges the gap between Shattered Thrones and its sequel, while telling its own separate story. I'm still looking for a beta for both this and Shattered Thrones, so if you'd like to apply please just send me a pm or drop a review._

 _On a different note, I have opened a forum on my profile page to serve as a codex for this universe. None of it will be essential reading, and it's just to provide more depth to the world_

 _Hope you guys and gals enjoyed the first chapter, have an amazing day!_

 _UPDATE: I've re-written this chapter because I felt like I rushed it out. The issues that Farla pointed out have been changed, mostly how the battle with N played out. I completely felt like I whiffed on his character and hopefully the re-write is closer to what I was going for._


	2. Farm Boy, Big City

**He didn't hesitate. He knew what he had to do. I taught him well, and he used what I taught him to bring down the biggest threat to Unova I've ever seen.**

 **Aurea Juniper - Renowned Pokemon Researcher**

* * *

I think I knew deep down that Shep didn't really want to come on my journey with me. N beat him into the dirt just to show me that. You might call it cruelty and hypocrisy, but I know the truth. It had hurt N to do what he did, just as much as it had hurt me to watch him do it. Of course, that didn't mean that I had to like it. I still hated that green haired prick for what he did, even if I did understand why he did it.

Hilda stayed at my side while I did it. I told her to go, that I had to do it alone. With her being the bleeding heart that she was, she refused. I was kinda glad she did, because she made me feel a whole hell of a lot less worthless. Hell, I even felt like I was doing the right thing.

Shep took off at the first chance he got. He didn't even wait for me to say a proper goodbye. I've always wondered why he ran so quickly. Maybe he hated me. Maybe he saw a way out of his ball, and he took it. Whatever it was, it made me realize that maybe the PLM had a point. I caught him without any thought to whether he would want to come with me. That was the point Ghetsis had made, the lesson that N had so graciously taught me. Pokemon were not tools to be used, they were living breathing beings.

I let Vermais out, and asked him a question that Hilda swore she never expected to hear me say. I guess Ghetsis really had gotten to me. "Vermais, do you want to leave?"

He cocked his head to the side, and looked at the path that Hilda and I had walked on our way from Accumula. I knew he remembered it, because the stupid oshawott started looking around for Shep. He must've remembered me catching the lillipup here.

I repeated my question, earning a confused look from Vermais. He looked back down the path that led to Accumula, and started off down it. I thought that I was gonna burst into tears. Then Vermais turned around as if to ask why I wasn't coming. Hilda never let that go. I cried like a baby, all because my awkward little soldier thought that I was asking him to walk with me.

After that, I knew that I deserved to be a trainer. If only because Vermais had chosen to stay with me. Hilda didn't have close to the same mental struggle that I did. She hadn't caught any pokemon, and Hera had chosen to join Hilda before the girl had even decided on challenging the League. She let Hera out anyways, and asked her snivy the same question I had asked Vermais. Hera's answer was short and involved angry vines.

So we set off again, back on the path towards Accumula. By the time we got to the sleepy little town, the sun was setting and our food supplies were running low. I blew some of our money on enough rations to get us to Striaton. We passed through the town without incident, neither of us wanting to spend what little cash we had left to rent a room. Hell, I don't even know if we could have afforded a room at that point. We just kept on moving, deciding to sleep in our bedrolls under the stars.

By the time we stopped walking, the sun had gone down. I set to making a fire, cursing myself for not stopping sooner and Vermais for not being a fire-type. It took me probably about half an hour of fumbling around in the dark, but I finally got our fire started. I crashed back onto me bedroll, and shifted my pack over to use it as a pillow.

"Toss me one of those ration packs, I'm starving."

I unzipped my bag and sifted through the pile of silvery bags that held our rations. Grinning, I pulled out a pair of packets labelled as sweet n' spicy boufallant strips and tossed one over the fire at her. She caught it with her chest and tore it open eagerly. I set my packet down beside me and pulled another packet out of my bag. I unstrapped Vermais' food bowl from my bag and ripped open the package, dumping the contents into Vermais' bowl.

Vermais turned his nose up at the sight of the food. I sighed, and fished one of the artificial flavour packets out of the depths of my bag. Vermais was so goddamn picky about what he ate that I had to sprinkle one of those flavour packets that you get in the instant noodle packages over every damn meal. I don't know what it was about them that he liked, but if it meant that he'd eat I didn't care. I'd found out the hard way that he was picky when it came to eating. After a week of exhausting all my money looking for something he would eat, I discovered that he went crazy over those tiny packets. Ever since, I've stocked up at every chance I could get.

Thankfully, Hera was much less picky. She could and would eat just about anything thanks to her reptilian nature. All Hilda had to do was tear open a pre-prepared meal packet and her snivy would be satisfied.

We ate in silence, the only sounds coming from the crackling fire and our pokemon gorging themselves on their meals. I don't know how long we had both been finished for when Hilda looked up at me and asked me a question.

"So, yesterday in Accumula…" She trailed off, like she didn't want to finish her question. "Do you think he was right? Are pokemon really happy with humans?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but couldn't find the words. I took a breath and tried again. "I'd like to think so" I said. "But I don't fucking know. Maybe some are better with it than others, but I don't know for sure."

"Better with what?" She asked.

I shrugged, not really knowing how to make sense of it. So much of what I wanted to say couldn't be put into words properly that I didn't want to say anything for fear of sounding like an idiot. "I don't know, being with humans?" I shook my head. "But that's not it. I can't really explain how I want to." I paused, hoping she would understand. She didn't say anything, so I started over. "Overall, pokemon as a whole are used as tools by us. When you look at if in that cold, unemotional way, then maybe they are better off without us. But when you look at the individual pokemon and their owners, it's all over the place."

She nodded, seemingly understanding the point I was trying to get across. "I think I get it" she said. "The way I see it, it's a flawed system. Anyone with money can buy themselves a pokemon, regardless of whether or not they're capable of treating them properly."

I laughed, seeing where she was headed. "That what you're gonna change when you make Champion? Fixing the system?"

She smiled and nodded absentmindedly. "Someone has to." She yawned and stretched inside her bedroll. "You want first watch?" She asked.

I nodded, smiling to myself. "Vermais and I will wake you when it's your turn for watch."

She rolled over, pulling her covers up around her shoulders. She shifted her pack under her head and pulled Hera into the bedroll with her.

"Night, love" I said.

I heard her sigh to herself, then a soft "Night, jackass." She was asleep in minutes, snoring softly into her pack.

I rolled onto my back, content to stare up at the stars until it was time to wake Hilda for her watch. I'll admit, it was peaceful. Nights like that? They made it all bearable. They were what made me love life. It's not the same when I go out for a night now. Now, I can't make it twenty feet without bumping into a League spook. I get that you guys are just looking out for me, but there are times where a guy just wants to be alone. Out under the stars… Yeah, it's one of my favourite things in life.

The night passed without incident, and I woke Hilda up halfway through the night to switch watch. By the time my head hit my makeshift pillow, I was already asleep. Sunrise woke me up, and I found out what the biggest problem with sleeping on the ground was. My back ached, and I knew that it was gonna stay that way until Hilda and I could raise the money to pay for a hotel room somewhere along the way.

Vermais, being the little blue ball of spite that he was, soaked my head when I tried to wake him. He curled back into a ball, and I returned him to his ball. It wasn't really sleep, but suspended animation was close enough that he'd be rested by the time I called him out again.

We made better time than I would have thought possible, because we rolled into Striaton City just after noon. I always knew it was close, but with how close Accumula was, I didn't expect another town so soon. The first thing I noticed was how absolutely massive the city was. I'd never been north of Accumula, so everything was so loud and in your face. I fucking hated it. I was a farm boy, the busiest place I'd ever been before this was Accumula's marketplace. There were too many people, too much noise, and too much happening.

Hilda on the other hand, was loving every minute of it. She might've been just a farm girl, but she definitely had a taste for the city. Probably because she grew up in Castelia before her mom married her stepdad and moved them both out to the boonies. I practically dragged her to the centre, ignoring her protests and requests to stop for just one second. I was not in any mood to screw around in a place so goddamn busy. I was afraid I'd lose her in the crowds, and end up stuck in an unfriendly city by myself.

It took me just under an hour to find the damn thing. By that time, Hilda had stopped arguing long enough to tell that I needed to get off the street. I collapsed on one of the centre's couches the second we walked in those doors. My eyes closed and for the first time since arriving, I felt some measure of peace.

"Overwhelmed?" She asked.

I nodded, swallowing down the nausea forming in the pit of my stomach. "Just wasn't expecting so much of everything."

She nodded, and held her hand out for Vermais' ball. "Cities can be like that. They've got everything and lots of it." She looked down at me with concern. "You gonna be ok?"

I shrugged and sat up. "Don't know. Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

"And if it does?" She asked.

I smiled and put my head back. "Then I'll come back here and crash on the couch again."

She cracked a smile and swiped Vermais' ball off my belt. "Very funny." She looked back at the counter, and the impatient nurse giving her a bored look. "I'm gonna go get them checked out. Maybe rooms are cheap here?"

I looked up at her wearily and grinned lopsidedly at her. She rolled her eyes and turned around, ignoring me. She instantly struck up a conversation with the bored nurse, and I laid my head back down.

The next time I opened my eyes Hilda was in front of me, prodding me in an attempt to wake me up. I stood up, shaking the stiffness out of my legs and stretching my back. "How long was I asleep?" I asked.

She whipped a key-card at me. "About twenty minutes. I got us a room. Two beds, so don't get any ideas. We've got until tomorrow to either get the badge, or earn some money."

I nodded and held out my hand to her, helping her to her feet. "You think we can do it?" I asked.

"No, but we're gonna have to" she said. "You wanna go register at the gym?"

"Yeah, let's get down there before they close up for the night." Hilda tossed Vermais' ball at me. I caught it deftly and slid it into the holster on my belt. I retrieved my pack, hefting it over my shoulders.

"Let's go drop our stuff off in our room first" she said. "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna lug this around all night."

* * *

"So" I said. "What you're telling me is that there's absolutely nothing you can do?"

The lanky attendant behind the gym's registration counter shook his head. "I'm sorry sir, there are no openings for another three days."

I slammed my fist down on the counter, half pleading with the man. "Listen, I've only got enough money to keep us under a roof for tonight. I'm fucking begging here, just bump everyone back a slot and tell them that the gym leaders had some unexpected business pop up."

He sighed and looked at me with a bored expression. "Like I said sir, there's nothing I can do. That wouldn't be fair to the other registrants. If you really need to stay a few days, the city has a shelter set up a few blocks from here. It won't be comfortable, but you'll have a bed to sleep in and a roof above your heads."

I sighed. "Just put us down for the first two available openings."

He nodded and scribbled our information into his booklet hastily. "Will that be all?"

I nodded, and sulked back to Hilda's side.

"He didn't change our appointments, did he?"

"No." I answered.

She snickered and turned her back on me. "Told you!" She called.

I broke into a grin and followed her out of the gym. "So, three days?"

Hilda smirked. "I guess we've gotta find some money. Or end up sleeping at the shelter."

I shook my head. "In a city like this, I'd rather sleep on the ground. Who knows how many people have slept in those beds at the shelter."

She raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't question me. "Money it is then."

I would have said something back, but my X-Tranceiver started buzzing furiously in my pocket. I pulled it out of my pocket and flipped it open. Professor Aurea Juniper's smiling face greeted me.

"Afternoon, Hilbert. Is Hilda with you?"

Hilda's head poked over my shoulder, curious at the mention of her name. "Hello professor!" She said cheerfully.

Juniper smiled. "I guess that answers that question. How goes the gym challenge? You haven't killed each other yet, so that's a good sign."

"We've got no money, nowhere to stay, and three days until our challenges." I said brusquely. "So I'd say that we're better off than I had expected to be."

"We're doing fine professor" Hilda said. "We'll stay at the shelter here if we had to."

Juniper shook her head. "That won't be necessary" she said. "My former assistant lives on the eastern outskirts of the city. She'll allow you to stay, so long as you help her out with some of her research."

My head perked up at that. "Fennel, right? The one who died her hair purple?" I prayed to every god I knew that it wasn't.

Juniper nodded cautiously. "Yes, that's the one. Please do try to be careful. The last time you two worked together I had to rebuild half my lab."

I blushed embarrassedly, remembering the incident. "To be fair, that wasn't my fault. She told me that the stupid little ball wouldn't explode."

"Wait a minute," Hilda interrupted. "You blew up the professor's lab?"

I winced at the memory of all my hair burning off. "Yeah… I kinda poked a voltorb with an electric prod." I confessed. "Not my finest hour. At least the second test went better."

"What's a voltorb?" Hilda asked.

Professor Juniper came to my rescue. "They're a new species of pokemon" she said. "They surfaced in Kanto a few years ago, and look remarkably similar to a pokeball." She sighed. "Fennel wanted to know what their capabilities were, so she had Hilbert here conduct a few tests for her."

"I kinda shocked myself, broke a rib, and got blown up" I said sheepishly.

"How did I miss this?" Hilda asked.

I laughed. "You were getting ready for that big trip to Castelia. You barely even saw me without my hair, and once you did it had grown back in enough for me to pass it off as just a cut."

"Shit."

I nodded. "Exactly." I looked back at the X-Tranceiver's screen. "Any idea what she wants from us?"

Juniper shook her head. "Sorry, no. She wouldn't say over the phone." She leaned closer to the screen. "Please do be careful you two. Fennel might mean well, but her experiments tend to border on suicidal. Just promise me you'll take care of yourselves."

I nodded, looking at Hilda. "Don't worry, I wouldn't agree to anything too dangerous."

Hilda shook her head and sighed. "I'll keep him from doing anything too stupid. Say hi to my parents for me?"

Juniper nodded. "I'll pass it along." She looked back at me. "Hilbert, your mother has told me to remind you that she does have a phone and would appreciate a call from you."

I nodded, rolling my eyes. "I'll call her after she's done with today's chores. Tell her to actually check her messages."

Juniper smiled and let out a small laugh. "I doubt that she knows how to do that, but I'll pass it along." A loud alarm blared in the background and Juniper looked around frantically. "Apologies, I've got to go. Something just broke, and Dad's on his way."

Before I could properly say goodbye, she had closed her X-Tranceiver and ended the call. I looked over at Hilda and gave her my best lopsided grin.

"If you burn all your hair off, I'm not being seen with you."

I laughed. It felt good. It would be the last time I laughed in a long time. If I'd known that, then maybe I wouldn't have agreed to help Fennel. Maybe I wouldn't have had to go into the Dreamyards.

* * *

"OHMYGOSHHILBERTBLAKE!" Fennel squealed when she saw me walk through the door to her apartment. She bowled over several chairs in her rush to get around the table that dominated the minuscule apartment. "What're you doing here?"

I smiled and opened my arms to accept the crushing hug that she pulled me into. "Just came to see how my favourite mad scientist was."

She let me go, and pulled Hilda into her own rib-cracking hug. "And who is this?" Fennel asked. "Mr. Blake, did you find yourself a girlfriend?"

Hilda extricated herself from the hug and snorted. "He fucking wishes" she said. "I'm just here to stop him from getting himself killed."

Fennel shrugged and ushered us over to her table. "Well whatever you two are, you're welcome to stay for dinner."

"Actually," I started. "I just got a call from Aurea. She said that you were working on a new project and that you might need some help."

She grinned at me evilly. "Well now that you mention it, I do happen to need a qualified field worker to retrieve a few things for me." She looked at me hopefully. "Originally, I had hoped to hire some breeder from Johto that handles all sorts of odd jobs. He was actually supposed to be here in a few days, but if you two can handle it sooner…"

I held up my hand, stopping her from continuing. "Just give us a place to stay until we're ready to leave Striaton and I'm all yours."

Fennel grimaced slightly. "Well it's a two-person job kinda. So can I have both of you?"

I looked at Hilda. "Your call" I said.

She nodded. "I might as well. What's the job?"

Fennel clapped her hands together. "Excellent! I just need you two to capture me a munna… Or a musharna. But preferably a musharna."

We stood there in an awkward silence. Hilda was the one to break the silence. "What's a musharna?"

Fennel pulled out her X-Tranceiver and pulled up a picture of a musharna. She handed the device over to Hilda. "They're floating purple pokemon. They've got some sort of power over dreams, and they emit this powder that makes you fall into the deepest dreams. I'm working on something involving that powder, and I need a live musharna to produce the powder so I can study it."

Hilda nodded, and handed me the device so I could see the picture. I grimaced at the sight of the grotesque floating sack of purple meat. "They don't look friendly." I remarked. "Anything we should know?"

Fennel nodded and pointed over to a bin of protective equipment. "You'll have to wear a gas mask to keep yourselves from inhaling anything too dangerous." She turned and looked between Hilda and I expectantly. "So," she started. "Would you like to start dinner?"

Dinner, as it happened, was a trio of microwaveable meals that all tasted vaguely similar. We barely talked over dinner, save for a few questions about the latest projects that professor Juniper had undertaken. Once dinner was over, I helped Fennel pull out a pair of cots that we set up around her table. She wished us good luck and good night, then disappeared into the other room.

Hilda was out seconds after laying down. I suppose that the noise of the city didn't really bother her, because it kept me up for half the night. I barely knew what was happening when my alarm blared, signifying the crack of dawn.

I sat up, eyes red from a night of not sleeping. Hilda barely even stirred, rolling over to hide from the noise.

Fennel looked at me from her spot at the table, and smiled. "Morning!" She said cheerfully.

I forced myself off the cot, and sat down at the table with her. "Couldn't sleep either?" I asked.

She nodded. "I don't sleep much anymore." She hesitated, then looked at me nervously. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she told me what was really going on. "Hilbert… I can't sleep because I spent too much time in the Dreamyards without a mask."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I was so close to cracking something really important. Like, it would have put me on the same level of Aurea, and Cedric."

I nodded, realizing it was big if whatever we were looking for catapulted Fennel into the same stratosphere as the Juniper family. "So what was so important?" I asked.

She hesitated again. "My theory, is that the powder can allow you to enter the Distortion in your dreams."

My eyes widened at that. "Fennel, how do you know that?"

"I… I got lost" she said. "I ended up in the Dreamyards by accident, and swallowed way too much of that powder." She shuddered. "I saw things, things that I've only ever heard of in stories about the Distortion. I need to figure this out. You understand that?"

I nodded hesitantly. "You know what you're doing?"

She shook her head and smiled softly. "No, but that's where the mad scientist label comes from."

I chuckled at that. "So you sticking around to see us off?" I asked.

Fennel shrugged and shovelled another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

Hilda's alarm blared twice, rousing her from the cot. Fennel and I smiled at the exhausted woman. Hilda rolled over, grumbling about mornings. I yawned and stood up to pack away my cot. It was gonna be a long day, and I needed to get going.


	3. Things go Badly

**It's a good thing the dead can't tell secrets. If they could, we'd all go mad.**

 **Agatha Kikuko – The Ghost Queen**

* * *

Hilda and I waltzed into the coffee shop wearing our Hazmat suits. I don't know who was more surprised to see us, the employees or the customers. The customers stared at us blankly until we joined the line.

Fennel filed in behind me, looking excitedly around at the coffee shop. Her face dropped into a mask of disappointment at the blank looks that the customers were wearing. "Nobody cares anymore…" She grumbled to herself.

"What were you expecting?" I asked, adjusting my mask to keep it out of my face. "Running and screaming?"

She nodded, smiling awkwardly. "That's what happened the first time I came in here wearing one of those."

Hilda shot me a look over her shoulder, scowling. "Don't encourage each other." She turned back to the front of the line, ignoring us. "Fucking bad enough when there was only one of him."

I laughed, stepping out of the line. "You're just jealous that you can't have as much fun, aren't you."

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Go blow up a voltorb" she said snidely.

I clutched at my chest dramatically and fell to my knees. "Oh you wound me" I said with a smile.

Fennel looked down at me, frowning. "You're not still mad about that, are you? Cuz I really really didn't expect it to explode."

I shook my head and got to my feet. "I'm not angry anymore. Now it's just a good story to tell" I said.

She smiled and nodded, satisfied by my answer.

The cashier signalled for Hilda, and the three of us walked over to him. Fennel stepped up, ordering for us. "Two of my usual, and three breakfast sandwiches."

The man nodded and punched in our order. He looked up at us and raised an eyebrow. "Will that be all?" He asked.

Fennel nodded and tossed him a pair of bills. She grabbed herself a coffee and handed the other one to Hilda.

I scooped all three of the sandwiches into my arms and looked at the two girls. "So how are we actually supposed to catch a musharna?" I asked.

Fennel smiled at me. "I'm pretty sure they can't put more than one person to sleep at a time. Just find one, the person still awake can throw a ball at it."

I nodded. "Seems simple enough."

Two hours later, Hilda and I stood at the rusted gates to the Dreamyards. I gave her a thumbs up and pulled the gas mask over my face. We pushed those gates open with all the confidence that two cocky teenagers like us possessed. It still might be one of the biggest mistakes I've made.

We barely made it twenty feet before I started getting woozy. I turned to Hilda, but she was gone. I turned again, and the Dreamyards themselves had disappeared. I was standing in a completely pitch black space that stretched as far as I could see. I blinked, and the scenery changed. I was at the top of a mountain, a swirling purple storm dominating the sky above me. I blinked, taken aback by the sudden change and the scenery changed again.

A snow covered hill exploded, and something started rising from the dirt. A purple blur shot into the clouds of dust.

I blinked.

A town full of sleeping people, a malevolent black shadow covering everything. A purple blur sped past, followed by something angry.

I blinked.

An island bathed in soft pink light exploded into purple flames.

I blinked.

A lake boiled away, purple flames diving into the centre of the lake.

I blinked.

A field of flowers, ablaze with purple fire.

I blinked.

I was floating over an erupting volcano. A massive yellow eye peered out of the smoke at me. I looked to the left and saw a tidal wave of water rushing towards me. A purple blur shot into the sky, escaping the carnage.

I blinked.

A wall of strange beings with tentacled arms flew towards me. The purple blur shot forwards, scattering them. A giant green dragon crashed into the ground, covered by the tentacled beings.

I blinked.

A pair of levitating dragons spat dragonfire onto a brilliant purple barrier.

I blinked.

A bright yellow star glowing over a humongous tree. The purple blur sped towards the star.

I blinked.

An explosion engulfing a vast desert. A purple blur speeding ahead of the fire.

I blinked.

A bolt of energy shot into the sky. A bolt of purple met it, causing a massive explosion.

I blinked.

A massive, twisting figure stomping through a forest. Again the purple blur was there, swirling around the figure's head.

I blinked.

Three beasts circled the bottom of a tower. A golden bird lay broken at the top of tower, a purple being standing victorious over it.

I blinked.

Four birds lay on an island, broken by the purple being.

I blinked.

A dragon bore down on a lone man.

I blinked.

The purple being stood before a boy. He knelt before the being, bringing a smile to its feline face.

I blinked.

An island exploded. The purple being stood among the flames and wreckage, tail flicking from side to side angrily.

I blinked.

A boy stood alone against a massive white dragon, snow blowing around them both.

I blinked.

Two dragons faced off, bolts of lightning and gouts of flame obscuring everything.

I blinked.

The white dragon stood before me, heat shimmering off it.

I blinked.

Hilda lay on the ground in front of a flaming V, eyes closed.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see any more. Then something opened my eyes, and I swear that I temporarily lost my mind. The visions came back, flashing in front of my eyes faster than I could track. I think I screamed, although I don't really know if I was actually awake or not at that point. I remember those visions though, I don't think I could ever forget them.

I don't know how long those visions kept flashing at me, because the next thing I remember was being suspended in the air. I opened my eyes, probably only my second worst choice in recent memory, and saw a musharna for the first time. I attempted to run, but couldn't move my legs. It took me a second, but I realized that I was inside some sort of factory.

Fennel's description didn't come close to the horror that floated in front of me. It was wrinkly, and sagged like a half-inflated balloon. A human face looked at me, eyes dead and mouth hanging open. It just floated there, staring at me.

Then I heard a moan to my right. I turned my head, and saw an unconscious naked man floating the same as I was. I looked down, and realized that my hazmat suit was gone, leaving me naked as well. The musharna turned away from me and floated over to him. He opened his eyes, and attempted to struggle against the unseen force trapping us. The musharna let out an angry tone, and the man cried out in pain.

The musharna backed off, and the man started begging for his life. If I lived my whole life over, I could go without hearing a man beg for his life. It's not something that you just recover from. A huge gash appeared on the man's side, and he must've resigned himself to his fate because he just started crying. The musharna didn't listen or care, and I realized what was about to happen. I closed my eyes as the man's skin was torn off by unseen force.

I didn't dare open my eyes, but the unseen force came back. It pulled my eyes open and held them like that. Then it turned my head to the side. The man's organs and skeleton were still suspended in the same position that he had been held. The pile of skin floated over to the musharna, and the creepiest thing that could have happened did. The musharna's misshapen lips met the man's and his skin inflated. I closed my eyes again, not wanting to see the pile of human skin shape into one of those things.

I heard the remains of the human that had stood at my side fall to the ground. I felt the blood splash along my side, soaking my entire right leg with the hot and sticky liquid. The unseen force came back, forcing my eyes open. The musharna was suspending what looked like half a musharna in the air beside it. The force pushed my head to the left, and my heart skipped a beat.

Hilda was held in the same position the man and I had been, eyes firmly shut. The musharna floated over to her, and seemed to look at me pointedly. I heard a sick gurgle come from the musharna, then realized that it was going to make me watch this time.

I'm not proud to admit that I gave up. I resigned myself to that fate. I was sure that Hilda would be skinned next, with me following immediately after. I didn't expect to last more than a few minutes at that point. I certainly didn't expect a crossbow bolt to pass through the musharna's floating body and bury itself in the wall of the factory. The musharna dropped to the ground, wailing loudly. The unseen force dropped me, and I crashed to the ground.

Ignoring the pain that shot up my leg as I landed, I forced myself to get up. Hilda had fallen to the ground beside the musharna, and I built up what little strength I had left in my body. With a running start, I kicked that struggling musharna across the room. It hit the wall with a sickening splat, and I turned away from it with a satisfied grin.

I didn't notice the other man in the room until he had reloaded the crossbow he held and fired another bolt into the doorway behind him. He turned his head, and realized that I was awake. "Eon, help him!" He barked before he dropped to one knee and started cranking the crossbow's string back into position.

I nearly did a double take when a xatu appeared beside me with a faint pop. The man forced another bolt into his crossbow and fired it back into the open doorway. I grabbed Hilda's arm and hauled her to her feet, ignoring her groggy protests. The xatu's wing brushed against my hand, and we were sucked into a void.

I can't properly explain what it feels like to teleport. It's kinda like going underwater, but you can't see anything if you try opening your eyes. It's not a sensation that I'm ever eager to repeat. We reappeared beside a campfire that had clearly been put out only a few hours before. Hilda slumped against me, knocking me to the ground. The xatu squawked again, and disappeared with a pop.

I put my head back down, and took a breath.

"Hilbert?" I heard Hilda say. I popped my head up and looked at her. "I'm naked. Would you mind letting go of me?"

I laughed and put my head back down, letting her roll off me. She stepped away from me, and covered herself with her hands. "I don't suppose you have any clothes?" She asked. "Or anything to cover either of us with?" Her stomach growled. "Or anything to eat for that matter."

"No," I said. "I don't have anything. If you didn't notice, I'm naked too. I don't exactly have anywhere to hide snacks."

"Oh believe me, I noticed." She snapped at me. "Can you just find me something?"

"Well what do you want me to do?" I asked. "I just got a slideshow from hell, then watched a man have all his skin torn off by some demon that wanted a friend." I shook my head. "I thought you were next, ok?"

She shook her head. "You can find me something to cover with before you bear your soul. I'd feel a whole lot more comfortable if my boobs weren't out for the whole world to see."

I stood up and walked over to the pack sitting next to the fire pit. I pulled the bedroll off it and tossed it at Hilda. She unzipped the side and wrapped it around herself while I covered myself with a thin blanket that I found in the pack. I uncapped a bottle of water that sat attached to the pack and drained half of it before tossing it to Hilda. She copied me, downing the rest of the bottle in seconds.

My hand brushed absentmindedly at the spot on my side where I kept Vermais' ball. I slowly turned to look at Hilda. "He's gone. Vermais is gone."

Hilda's eyes widened and she looked down at the ground. "Oh god, Hera."

The xatu popped back into existence in front of us. The man who I assumed to be its master appeared beside it, scowling at the both of us.

"Alright, which one of you wants to explain why you thought that going in there was a good idea?" He paused and his expression softened. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you two weren't wearing anything. I'd offer you what I have, but it looks like you've already taken it."

Neither Hilda or I said anything. The man sighed, and brushed a lock of golden brown hair away his eyes. "Look," he said. "I was just in the area and thought you needed a little help. I can go into town and get you each of set of clothes."

Again, we didn't answer him. He sighed and pulled a trio of pokeballs from inside his jackets. "I assume these are yours?" He asked. "I found them in a pile of shit back in the factory. Figured that you'd be wanting them back."

I took the three balls off him, and raised an eyebrow. "We only have one pokemon each."

He frowned. "I guess those things caught someone else before I got there. I didn't see anyone else in there."

I grimaced. "They did. They pulled his skin off right before you came in."

He wrinkled his nose at the thought of that. "Glad I didn't have to see that." He looked down at the three balls in my hands, then back up at me. "Well you'd better open them. I'd like to get all this sorted out before we head into Striaton."

I tapped the button on the centre of one of the balls. Vermais appeared, looking around for me. He practically tackled me when he saw me and planted himself at my feet, growling at the man. "Ignore him" I said. "He's vicious when he wants to be, but he's just being protective."

The man shrugged. "As long as he doesn't try to eat my face. I've had enough of things that try to do that."

I tapped the button on the second ball, releasing Hera into Hilda's waiting arms. The snivy wrapped her vines around Hilda's body, seeming to understand that she was naked underneath the bedroll. Hera glared at me, threatening me if I so much as looked at Hilda. I didn't dare anger the tiny plant, and turned my attention to the third ball.

"Well here goes nothing" I said. The pokemon inside the ball was intent on proving me wrong. The musharna appeared, floating right in front of my face. Before it was fully formed, an unseen force slammed into me, knocking Hilda and I across the man's campsite. I picked myself up off the ground, scrambling to avoid a blast of energy that knocked Vermais into the underbrush that surrounded the camp.

The man raised his crossbow, only to have it torn from his hands by the unseen force. The crossbow smashed into the side of his head, knocking him to the dirt. His xatu squawked angrily and disappeared with a pop. It reappeared on the other side of the campsite and ripped a pair of saplings free of the dirt with its mind. The saplings flew across the clearing, swatting the musharna out of the air.

The xatu descended on the fallen musharna, tearing at it with the talons on its feet. It didn't stop until the musharna was nothing but a pile of meat, shredded to pieces by the angry xatu. The man picked up his crossbow, and gingerly poked at his cheek.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning." He turned to look at Hilda and I. "You two ok?"

I nodded as Vermais burst out of the underbrush. He looked around wildly. "Vermais, abstain." I ordered. The oshawott looked at me confused as I turned to look back at the man. "I think we're gonna be fine" I said.

"Not for the lack of effort on that thing's part." Hilda added bitterly.

He shook his head. "Who the fuck would actually want to capture one of those things?" He asked.

Hilda looked at me pointedly. "Yes," she said snidely. "Who would want to catch one of them?"

"Someone who doesn't know how dangerous they are" I said cautiously. "So," I started. "Did Fennel send you?" I asked.

The man raised an eyebrow at me. "Who's Fennel?"

"She's a scientist," Hilda said. "We were doing some field work for her."

The man shook his head. "I've never heard of a woman named Fennel. My only contact in Unova is a man named Cedric."

"Cedric Juniper?" I asked.

He nodded. "I was setting up a breeding contract with him. I get rare species to breed and sell, he gets the best of the stock." He looked around as if he was trying to get his bearings. "I'm supposed to be on my way to some lab south of here. His daughter was going to hand over the pokemon to me in a week."

I smiled knowingly. "Professor Aurea Juniper's lab is three days south of here. You're looking at one of her former assistants."

He nodded, smiling. "What a coincidence then. Could you call ahead and put in a good word or something?"

Hilda laughed. "You going back to grab our X-Trans?" She shook her head. "They're back wherever our clothes went."

He grimaced. "Not going back there" he said. "You didn't see how many of those things there were." He looked over at the skyline of Striaton City, smiling. "Tell you what, I'll take you into the city and replace your clothes. You can find a phone and make whatever calls you need." He held out a hand for me to shake. "Deal?"

I took his hand and shook it. "Deal." I looked him right in the eyes. "What's your name stranger?"

"Ethan Alexander Gold, at your service" he said with a smile.

My stomach rumbled loudly, and I realized just how hungry I was. "I might have to trouble you for a sandwich before anything else."

By the time Hilda and I found a phone, the sun was starting to dip in the sky. I dialed in the number to professor Juniper's lab.

"Aurea Juniper's office, how can I help you?" Professor Juniper asked.

"Hello professor" I said.

The words had barely left my mouth before she shrieked. "HILBERT?!"

I pulled the phone away from my ear, protecting my hearing from the professor's shouts. "Yes professor, it's me. Hilda and I are fine."

I heard an audible sigh of relief, and the professor stopped yelling. "What happened to you two?" She asked.

"Well, we kinda got lost in the Dreamyards. Fennel had some field work for us."

"So you get lost for three weeks?" She asked.

That caught me off guard. "Did you say three weeks?" I asked. "We were in there for three weeks?"

I could practically hear the annoyance in the professor's voice. "Yes, that's when you called me last. Understandably, both your parents have been inconsolable."

I felt a pang of guilt, and realized that I hadn't called my mum before I left for the Dreamyards. "Shit," I started. I paused for a moment. "Just let them know we're ok. Hilda and I have to get back to Fennel's place. It's been three weeks, I'm sure she almost as worried as mum is."

"Hilbert," Juniper said softly. "Fennel's dead. She's gone Hilbert."

* * *

 _SUSPENSE! EXCITEMENT! In all seriousness, I sincerely enjoyed writing this chapter. Hopefully you guys like what I did with the musharna, and if you did, then I think you'll love what I've got planned once we get a little bit further into the story. Leave a review to let me know what you thought, and check out my other story in this world if you're enjoying this one. Sqcircles out!_


	4. Things go Even Worse

**He's a stubborn, angry, lucky bastard. The PLM never stood a chance.**

 **-Chilli Dent, Striaton City Gym Leader**

* * *

"What do you mean, there's nothing you can do?" I shouted. The police officer behind the desk shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "A woman is dead. Her fucking house was ransacked. How the fuck is that not enough to declare her disappearance fucking suspicious?"

"Look kid, I can't do anything for you. The captain personally declared the case closed." He waved me in closer. "I can't stick my neck out on this one, I need this job."

Ethan leaned over his desk, obscuring the officer from the camera. "Listen, we're not asking you to stick your neck out." He checked over his shoulder, nervously glancing up at the camera. "Just help us figure out what's going on. Drop us some evidence or something like that. We just want a chance to figure out what actually happened."

The officer sat back in his chair, sighing heavily. "Look, like I said, there's nothing I can do." He pulled his notepad closer to him and scribbled a note onto the paper. "Just get out of my office before you two get me in trouble." He shoved the note towards Ethan and in the same movement got to his feet.

Ethan slipped the paper up his sleeve, passing it off as him adjusting his sleeve. He nodded curtly, and stormed out of the room.

I stood up and glared at the officer. "Can't even point me at the bastards that did it?" I asked. "She deserved better than this. I just want them to pay."

He shook his head and looked at me solemnly. "I'm sorry kid, there's nothing I can do." He stood up and walked over to the door. He swung it open and looked at me expectantly.

I stormed out after Ethan, tore the door out of the officer's hand and slammed it behind me. Every single pair of eyes in that station followed me out the door.

I stepped out of that police station in an even worse mood than I had entered it. Ethan waved at me from across the street, then ducked into the alley behind him. I jogged across the street and into the alley, following him.

"Where are we going?" I asked, catching up to the Johtan. "What's our next move?"

The door on the building to my left swung open, answering me. "Now we take the less than legal route." Hilda said as she waved Ethan and I into the building. "We go back in at night and pull every shred of evidence they have. Then we take it to the League."

A trio of men stood in the room behind Hilda. "It's a bad plan" said the green haired one. "You do realize that the police have jurisdiction over the league?" He asked. "You take anything to the League, and the police will demand that it be handed over along with the thieves that stole it."

I raised an eyebrow at him as Hilda shut the door behind me. "So Striaton is a police state?" I asked. I shook my head, smirking. "I know the police chief is a war hero, but isn't it a little much to let him run everything?" I grinned at Hilda. "Should've just stayed on the fucking farm."

The green haired man smiled knowingly. "The people are sick of being told what to do by a relic. They're ready to back just about any attempt to kick the police out of power." He said. "All we need to do is prod them in the right direction. I doubt the papers would pass up a story like this."

The red haired man spoke up, shooting the green haired man a scathing look. "It would still be more prudent if we dealt with things like this personally." He tossed a pokeball into the air and caught it. "Letting the police sweep things under the rug like this isn't right. Someone needs to do something about it."

The green haired one shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Someone like us? We're just kids. I'd rather not have my balls chopped off before I get to use them, thank you very much. I'd rather kickstart the storm from a safe distance." He turned away from the red haired man and looked at me and Ethan. "Are you two really gonna get in on this?"

I shook my head. "You fucking idiot, I'm willing to get in on anything. I want to know what happened to one of my friends. I won't be able to do that from a distance."

Ethan smirked and nodded. "Farm boy is a shit, but he's got good intentions. I'm in if he is." He looked over at Hilda and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

She sighed and shook her head. "She was my friend too. I'm in."

The green haired man shook his head. "You're all insane. We'll be executed for treason."

The red haired one turned to the green haired one, stepping up to him as he did so. "Cilan, you're a part of this. You might be a prick, but you're our brother. Whether you like it or not the chief will lump you in with us."

Cilan frowned down at his shorter brother. "Really Chilli? Are you really so reckless as to risk all our lives for a chance at taking power that we don't deserve?" He looked over at the blue haired one. "Cress? What side are you on here?"

Cress snorted and laughed. "Fuck being a coward. Let's take this city. The pricks in the station need to know what it's like to be under someone else's boot."

Cilan cursed and shook his head. "Of course we're staging a coup. I could have taken my two gym challenges today, but no. High treason and the threat of a headsman's axe were more important priorities."

"Uncovering corruption and the cover up of a murder are important priorities, as well as part of the League's mandate to defend the people." I said. "What's our plan? We just gonna waltz back in there and take the evidence?"

Ethan pulled out the piece of paper he'd hidden up his sleeve. "Not exactly." He handed me the paper and watched the smile spread across my face. "We've got a time and place. I think that officer has something for us."

I scanned the paper. "Victory Park in four hours?" I said aloud. "Only one?" I looked up at Ethan and raised an eyebrow. "It's probably a trap." I said. "He probably earned himself a nice big promotion when he turned our asses over to the captain."

Cilan laughed. "See? Farm boy gets how stupid this plan is."

"Call me farm boy again." I growled. "See where it gets you."

Hilda cut off my growl with a glare that could curdle milk all by itself. "I'll go to meet him. They haven't seen my face, so if it is a trap at least we'll have the advantage of springing our own trap first."

"It's a bad idea." I said. "You'd be alone against whatever the hell could be waiting for us." Of course, that worked both ways. Anyone else that went would've been alone, I just wasn't willing to gamble with Hilda's life like that. Unfortunately for me and my concern, she was.

"Or I could get information that helps us figure out what happened to Fennel." She spat back, still glaring at me. "It's the safest for all of us if I'm the one who goes."

"She's right Hilbert. They don't know her face yet. If it is a trap, they won't spring it on her." Ethan said to me, attempting to soothe my concerns. "We'll be there to back her up if anything goes wrong."

I sighed. "I'm not happy about it, but it's not like I have a choice in the matter."

Hilda shifted uncomfortably, realizing my intentions. "Just keep Vermais ready to go and I'll be alright." She attempted a weak smile at me.

I smiled back at her and nodded. "Let's just get this over with. I'm not gonna sit comfortably until this is over, and I've got a bad feeling about the whole damn thing." I shot Cilan a look, crushing the hopeful smile that crossed his face. "But it's the best chance we've got at figuring out what's going on, and I'll be damned if I let it pass me by."

* * *

Striaton City's Victory Park was commissioned thirty-two years ago to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Humileau. Four million people killed in a war that tore our country to pieces, and instead of throwing money at rebuilding the infrastructure that made Unova the dominant nation on the planet we threw the money at parks and memorials. Fuck, the war isn't even officially over. All they did was sign an armistice and agree to stop fighting because both sides ran out of men and mon to pit against each other. Victory Park's very name was a lie. Nobody won the war, but a whole hell of a lot of people lost it.

My own personal grievances against the park aside, I had to admit that the park was beautiful. Trees, rolling hills, enough room to find privacy if you wanted it… It was enough to make me wish that I could roll out my bedroll and camp under the stars for a night. At the very least it was a noticeable upgrade over the grungy hotel Ethan had us holed up in.

I peered through the curtains for the hundredth time, eying the lonely path that snaked its way through the park's hills. "Still nothing since that guy went in half an hour ago." I turned to look at Hilda, a lump forming in my throat. "Ten minutes until the time on that paper."

Hilda stood up, clad in the smallest suit of body armour Chilli could find in the gym's armoury. She slipped on a long flowing coat on over the armour and shot me a smile. "How do I look?" She asked.

"Absolutely ravishing," I answered with a grin.

"Be serious." She shot back, not returning my grin. "Can you see the armour?"

I shook my head. "The whole long coat thing looks better on me, but you pulled it off admirably." She shot me a furious look, stopping my laugh in my throat. "You can't see the armour at all," I said. "You're as inconspicuous as you can be."

She shook her head, ignoring the sarcasm that spewed from my mouth. "Guess I should get going?"

I nodded and got to my feet. "I'll be right there with you. The second Hera comes out everyone comes running." I glanced down at my watch and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Five minutes."

Hilda looked up at me, studying my face for any cracks in the goofy mask I wore. "Just promise me one thing Mr. Blake." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't let anything happen to me."

I smiled down at her. "I never will Ms. Weiss." I pulled her into a crushing hug. "Don't go getting yourself into trouble without me."

She pulled out of the hug, smiling at me. "I wouldn't dream of it. You make enough trouble for the both of us anyways." She turned and opened to door, rain splashing in through the doorway. The door closed as quickly as it had opened, and I pressed myself against the window.

I watched Hilda walk from the door to the park. I watched her wipe the rain off the lonely bench and sit down gingerly. Ten minutes passed without so much as a bush shaking suspiciously. I looked down at my watch, then back up at Hilda. Movement drew my eyes further into a park. A man sat his ass down next to Hilda, not even pausing to wipe the rain off the bench.

I watched Hilda turn her head to look at the man. He looked back at her and I could tell they were talking. Hilda stood up abruptly, the man following her movement. I reached for the doorknob, growing antsy. Then the man reached for Hilda's arm, and about ten things happened at once.

A crossbow bolt buried itself in the man's back, knocking him forward into Hilda. She scrambled out from under the collapsing man and turned to face the pair of men that burst from the bushes with crossbows trained on Hilda. I had the door open before the man hit the ground, and had Vermais out before I'd even crossed the street.

"Aqua Jet!" I ordered, roaring over the sound of the rain. Vermais shot forward, propelling himself through the stream of water he spat from his mouth. Vermais crossed the distance between himself and the pair of men in under a second. He slammed into the first man, knocking him flat on his back with half his rib cage likely in pieces. The second man turned and fired wildly, reacting too quickly to get a clear shot off. The bolt whizzed past Vermais, burying itself in the mud. Vermais ignored the flying bolt, tearing into the downed man's Achilles' tendon.

Hilda had Hera out in a heartbeat, the flash of light blinding me. Hera's vines whipped towards the second man, tearing the crossbow out of his grip. I drove my shoulder into his stomach, tackling him to the dirt. I forced myself up, towering over the man. He attempted to push me off him, clearly winded. I brought my fists down, hammering his nose until it was a crooked mess of blood and snot.

Hilda shouted my name, drawing my attention away from the unconscious man underneath me. Half a dozen men were converging on us from deeper in the park, crossbows raised. I rose to my feet and drew my knife, taking my spot at Hilda's side. Vermais growled and abandoned the now disabled man laying in the mud.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach, and a familiar chill run down my spine. I'd only felt that sensation once before, and I wasn't ever gonna forget that experience. I turned to face the men in black, expecting Ghetsis' fucked up eyes to meet mine.

"Recall the mon!" The lead man ordered. "Before I put a bolt betwe-"

A flash of blue light cut him off. The man dropped like a puppet who's strings had been cut, the sound of him snoring loud enough to be heard over the rain. Ethan appeared in front of me, his xatu at his side. The bird squawked and raised its wings, erecting a shimmering barrier in front of the pair. The remaining five men all loosed their crossbows at once. The barrier in front of Ethan barely even rippled as the bolts ground to a halt in midair. They dropped to the ground harmlessly, the barrier barely even flickering.

Ethan pointed forward, a wicked grin. His xatu pulsed blue and the barrier blasted outwards. A black cat leapt out of the darkness and absorbed the blast, curls of black smoke swallowing the pulse of psychic light. Ethan gritted his teeth and planted his feet. His hand dropped to the belt at his waist, and the remaining balls there.

"Hilbert," he said. "Run."

I turned and froze to the spot. Another five men were approaching from the street, crossbows raised. Vermais turned with me, growling at the newcomers. I still felt that cold presence, like a knife at the back of my neck. Ghetsis was nowhere to be seen. "Not an option!" I shouted over my shoulder. "Where are the others?"

Ethan glanced over his shoulder and swore. "Complications. They're on the way. I'm all you've got for now." He tossed another ball, releasing what looked like a fluffy cloud with a beak. The creature stretched its blue neck out of the cloud and glared at the men in black.

"Vermais?" I asked tentatively. "Anything left in the tank?" My little oshawott nodded grimly and took his place in front of me, the cold presence not affecting him. Hilda turned and joined us, Hera bounding to take her place in front of us both.

"Return your pokemon, or you'll be digging graves for them." One of the men facing Ethan said, his voice tinged with the same scary shit that Ghetsis' had been .

"Like hell I'm gonna do that." Ethan said, not even bothering to give the presence the satisfaction of a reaction. "Threaten them again and I'll set Fluffy on you."

I looked over my shoulder at the cloud. "Fluffy?" I asked incredulously.

The man that had threatened Ethan cocked his head to the left and smirked. "Very well," he said. "Leave this place." He ordered. "Abandon your search for the scientist. Do that and you will be allowed to live."

I turned, ready to launch at the man despite the frantic screaming his voice set off in my mind. "Fuck you! Where's Fennel?" I shouted. "What did you fucks do to her?" Ethan silenced me with a look so stern that he could've passed as my mother.

"We're going." He said. "We're leaving."

The man in black smirked at me. "Control your anger young man. It will be your undoing." Oh yeah, this fuck definitely had the same vibe as Ghetsis.

Ethan shot me a look, stopping me from doing more than glaring and cursing at the man. "Fuck you. I'm gonna fucking kill you next time I see you."

Ethan raised an eyebrow at me. "That's what control looks like?" He asked.

I didn't answer Ethan, instead looking back at the man in black. "We'll go. I'll be looking forward to our next meeting."

"I think I will be too." He said. He looked at the men barring our way to the street. "Let them pass." He smiled at me innocently, sending shivers down my spine. "Till we meet again Mr. Blake."

I stared him down, pushing down the nausea that sprung up at the sight of the creep's eyes. Ethan turned and grabbed my shoulder. He shook his head at me softly. I broke eye contact with the creep and walked out of that park as proudly as I could.


	5. Unauthorized Broadcast

**I'd say I'm surprised that he actually did it, but I have a feeling that he'd kick my ass as soon as the words left my mouth. – Cress Dent**

* * *

"One man is dead, and two others have been rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries after what police are calling an unprovoked attack in Victory Park last night." The newscaster glanced down at his pile of papers, shuffling them. "Police Chief Marrec Barnabas spoke to Striaton Channel 4 reporters this morning."

The screen cut to an image of the powerfully built police chief standing at a podium. A pair of gurdurr stood at his flanks, muscles rippling. "Last night, an off-duty police officer was killed when he attempted to intervene in an illegal battle. As of this time, I am calling for the public to come forward with any information that could help us solve this violent crime." He bowed his head for a moment. "I will not allow Striaton to fall victim to violence and depravity. That is why, as of right now I will be instituting full marshal law until I feel that the city is safe enough for her citizens."

Ethan clicked off the tv angrily. "We can't stay in Striaton now."

I snorted. "Speak for yourself, I still have a badge to earn and a murder to solve."

He glared at me. "Don't be an idiot. The entire city thinks that we killed a cop. They're gonna hunt us down unless we leave Striaton." He turned and looked at Hilda. "He's your friend. You deal with this."

Hilda laughed and shook her head. "He's a stubborn prick. He wants his badge, and he's not gonna leave without it."

Ethan blinked back her answer. He shook his head and massaged his temples. "Everyone in this god forsaken country has a death wish." He looked back up at me. "Fine, you two get yourselves publicly crucified. I'm getting the hell out of Striaton tonight."

"I'm not gonna let Fennel go like this." I looked at Hilda, expecting her to take my side with this. "She was my friend, she deserves better than to be swept under the rug like this. You saw those eyes. You heard his voice." I was jumping to conclusions at that point, trying to string together anything that might bring Hilda over to my side. "Ghetsis and that guy, they had the same creepy aura. It's got to be connected."

Hilda closed her eyes, tensing up and averting her gaze. "Is it worth our lives too?" She opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Hilbert, I don't want to die." She smiled softly. "And I don't want you to die over this either. I'll stay for the badge, but we aren't getting involved in this."

I couldn't answer that one. Of course I didn't want to die. I just couldn't let Fennel's death go unpunished. I turned around and grabbed Vermais' ball off the dresser and stormed out of the hotel room. I was gone so quickly that I didn't even see Ethan and Hilda run after me. I don't even think I knew where I was going at that point. I'm pretty sure that I just wanted some air.

I must've subconsciously known what I was doing though, because ten minutes later I was standing in the gym again, staring down the same receptionist from three weeks ago with a half-formed plan in my head. He opened his mouth, probably to welcome me to the gym. I didn't wait for the words to come out of his mouth before I was leaning over his desk, practically foaming at the mouth.

"Look here, you little shit" I spat, spewing flecks of saliva. "I've had a really piss poor day, so you're gonna take me in the back and show me to Chilli, and then you're gonna beat it."

"I-I-I'm" he stammered.

I slammed my fist down on the desk. "NOW!" I roared.

The gangly teen was out of his chair and beckoning me through a door in under half a second. He led me down the hallway and opened the door at the end. I barged through, closing the door behind me. Chilli and Cress were standing on a raised platform, watching the battle below unfold.

A challenger stood on his own platform, nervously glancing up at the screen that displayed the battle information. He was losing badly, with only his herdier left to face Chilli's full team.

The challenger shouted an order to his herdier, and pointed at the red monkey that was dancing around the arena. I arrived at the side of the arena just in time to watch the monkey spit a ball of flame that seared the side of the herdier. The challenger returned his herdier and grimaced. The picture of the herdier blinked off, signifying Chilli's victory.

I waited impatiently for Chilli to exchange niceties with the challenger. The platform lowered far too slowly for my liking, further fuelling my agitation. He raised an eyebrow at me as he stepped off the platform.

"I don't remember seeing your name on the list for today." He jerked his head towards the man clambering off his own platform. "I'm pretty sure he was the last one."

"I'm three weeks late for my challenge." I grinned at him. "That's not why I'm here though. I've got an idea that I think you'll like." I looked at Cress, who was stepping off the platform behind his brother. "We're gonna go pay Striaton Channel 4 a little visit." I pulled the piece of paper with the dead cop's message scribbled on it. "And we're gonna tell the city what really happened."

* * *

"Remind me again, why couldn't we wait for Cilan?" Cress asked, his tone curt.

I couldn't tell him that I'd stormed out of the hotel and likely had Ethan and Hilda combing the city for me. So instead, I faked the confidence that I clearly didn't have.

"The police are gonna be expecting everyone involved to clear the city." I had a grin stretching from ear to ear. "They won't expect us to go on the offensive. We can catch them off guard if we make the evening news."

Cress didn't really seem satisfied with my answer. Maybe he wasn't convinced that I knew what I was doing. I never really got the chance to find out. Whatever he thought, he let the matter drop as we walked through the doors of the news building.

The preppy twenty-something behind the reception desk turned pale when she saw us storm in like we had fires lit under our asses. "Welcome to Striaton Channel 4," she started. "How can I-"

I cut her off before she could even finish her sentence. I practically forced her own phone into her hand. "Your boss better be on the phone in the next ten seconds, or so help me I'm gonna-" She had snatched the phone from my hand and dialed me a number so quickly that I barely had time to react. I raised the phone to my ear, listening to the phone ring.

The phone let out a click to let me know that the call had been connected. There was a pause, then a man's voice. "Yes, Anna?"

"She's not the one calling right now." I said quickly. "Don't hang up, because I've got something that's gonna send your ratings through the roof."

There was a pause. "You have my attention."

I grinned at the pale receptionist and held the phone up to my mouth. "You've got half an hour to get us on the air, or else I'm taking our story to channel 6."

I could hear the curiosity in his voice at that point. "Alright, I'll bite. What's your story?"

"We've got the real story about what happened to that cop last night." I smiled, getting ready to hook the man with my proposal. "Give us 15 minutes of airtime without your news crew. Let us broadcast without interruptions and I personally guarantee the best ratings that this channel has ever seen."

There was a few seconds of silence. "Hand the phone back to my receptionist for a moment." His voice was practically quivering with excitement.

I handed over the phone and watched as the receptionist furiously scribbled her boss' orders onto a piece of paper. She hung up the phone abruptly and pushed the piece of paper into my hands. "Go down the hall, turn left and it's the door at the end." She tapped the piece of paper. "Hand that to the man sitting in the big chair. That's the man you just spoke to. He'll get you settled in for your segment." She shot me her best attempt at a smile. "You're on in thirteen minutes, I'd hurry if I were you."

I nodded my head to her and started off down the hallway. I heard Cress thank the receptionist, and Chilli's heavy footfalls right behind me.

"So," he started. "What's the plan?" I glared at him. I was still in the process of forming said plan in my head. "What happens after you tell the city that a group of men, wearing black, that you couldn't identify killed one of their police men?"

"They start a manhunt for those men?" I asked sarcastically.

Chilli grinned solemnly at me. "We can hope." He said grimly.

I ignored his grim projection and barged into the studio with my head held high. The portly man sitting beside the camera spun on his chair and flung his arms out towards me. "There's my money maker!" He boomed. He rose off his chair, pointing at us. "Get them prepped for broadcast," he ordered, turning back to face the startled news crew. "Get our audience ready for an exclusive on last night's events. You've got ten minutes until they're on."

Before I could react to them, a swarm of people crashed over us. I closed my eyes, overwhelmed for the moment. I slowed my breathing, calmed myself and allowed the army of stylists and makeup artists to finish their work. In barely over a minute, it was over and the director had his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm taking a big risk with this, so whatever you do don't freeze up." He looked at Chilli and Cress nervously when I ignored him. "I don't think I've ever seen the two of you without your brother."

I tuned them out, watching the news crew intently. The preppy anchor turned to her co-anchor and dropped her fake smile. "In more serious news, when we come back from commercial we've got an exclusive look into the events that took place in Victory Park last night."

A bell rang, signifying that the feed had cut to commercial. I looked at the portly director with fire in my eyes. "Get everyone out now."

He grabbed the megaphone that sat beside his chair and brought it up to his mouth. "All non-essential staff, you've got two minutes to get yourselves to the break room."

The room burst into motion, people scurrying in every direction to collect their things. In half a minute the room had emptied of all the broadcasters and support staff, leaving only the tech staff.

"Do me a favour," I started, looking at the director. "Don't censor me."

"We'll see about that. You just focus on getting your story across."

I shrugged at him as I stepped onto the stage. "I was gonna try tap dancing, and maybe a little stand-up." He stared at me blankly as I leaned up against the anchor's desk.

A bell rang, and I was bombarded by the brightest lights I've ever seen. "Ready?" The director boomed. I nodded. "We are live in three… Two… One…" He finished by pointing at me.

I looked up at the camera and attempted words. They kinda didn't work at first. I got out a garbled "M'name's Hilbert Blake." I saw Chilli flinch at my side, and I took a breath. I took it all in, watched the lights, the camera, and the frantic waving of the director. I looked down at my feet and exhaled. I came back up with a wicked grin. "Let me start over," I said confidently. "My name is Hilbert Blake, and I am a trainer that's in way over his head."

I motioned to the gym leaders at my side. "This all started three weeks ago. I rolled into town to challenge the gym and earn a badge. An old friend of mine offered me a place to stay in exchange for helping her conduct an experiment in the Dreamyards." I paused for a second, swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. "The experiment failed, and I barely escaped with my life. When I returned to the city, I learned that my friend was dead."

Chilli and Cress both looked at me, as if they knew that what I was gonna say. "Her apartment was ransacked, and all of her research taken. When I went to the police, the officer that I spoke to told me that the case had been declared closed by his captain." I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket and held it up for the camera. "He gave me this paper, with instructions to meet him alone in Victory Park last night."

I took a breath, and realized that I'd been tensing up during my story. I paused, half because I wanted to give the end of my speech some dramatic tension. "He was killed by a group of men that were dressed in all black. They came out of the bushes with crossbows, and shot the officer… I never even learned his name." I took another pause and looked into the camera with as much grim focus as I could muster. "I don't know what's going on in Striaton, but someone in the police department is covering up a series of murders, most likely committed by those same men in black that killed the officer."

I glanced at the director, who was hanging on the edge of his seat while he watched me. "I can only assume that the police department is no longer serving the public's best interest. I call for the resignation of Police Chief, as well as a public review of the police department's-"

A flash of light and a loud crack interrupted me. The police chief appeared in front of me, a gelatinous green blob floating at his side. He removed a ball from his belt and held it out menacingly. "That's quite enough young man."

I grinned at him, something he probably didn't expect. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up." I looked over at the camera. "Look to your hero Striaton. Watch him strike down a boy because he asked that the police do their job."

The police chief didn't flinch. He shrugged off my words and turned to face the camera. He sighed and shook his head. "I've protected this city for thirty-seven years. I've made the sacrifices that are necessary for the citizens of this city to live in peace." He looked back at me, his face a mask of rage. "You have shattered the peace that I worked so hard to establish." He was practically shaking. "My entire life's work undone by a child…"

He shouted something to his pokemon, then dropped to the floor and covered his eyes. The green blob lit up like a lightbulb. I staggered back, blinded by the light. Something slammed into me, throwing me across the room. I flipped over the news desk and into one of the chairs, sending it rolling across the room.

"Deal with the gym leaders," the police chief ordered. "The kid is mine."

I rolled onto my chest and forced myself to my feet. "Go fuck yourself, old man!" I shouted. I furiously rubbed at my eyes, attempting to bring my sight back. I felt a meaty hand grab the back of my head and winced at what I knew was coming.

The police chief had reached across the news desk and grabbed hold of me. He smashed my head off the desk, and I fell back, clutching my now broken and bleeding nose.

"Cook that reuniclus!" Chilli shouted. I heard the floating green blob emit an angry tone, and felt a blast of heat sear the side of my face. I heard Cress shout in pain, and the distinct sound of a pokemon being released.

"Sometimes the needs of the few must be sacrificed to preserve the needs of the many." He stalked around the desk and hauled me to my feet. "If that means that a murder goes unsolved and a mouthy child is executed, then so be it." He drove his fist into the small of my back.

I dropped to my knees and doubled over in pain. "Go to hell!" I spat through gritted teeth. I blinked, and saw a drop of blood fall off my nose and onto the floor. A boot smashed into my back and slammed me into the floor.

"I've spent everything I've ever had to protect this city. What could you ever know about that?" He drew his sword menacingly. "You've caused more trouble than I had anticipated. It's time that I put an end to that trouble."

The chief's sword plunged towards my back. A xatu popped into existence in front of me. It's eyes glowed bright blue, and the sword tore itself out of his hand and buried itself in the news desk.

"Hera!" Hilda shrieked. "Get him off Hilbert!"

Vines wrapped themselves around the police chief, slamming him to the floor. Hera's vines snaked around his chest again, holding him down.

I rolled onto my back and sat up. Hilda rushed to my aid, helping me to my feet. I waved her off, and spat a huge glob of blood onto to floor. "The green thing," I said. "Where's it's ball?"

Hilda realized what I meant, and rushed over to the restrained police chief. "Hold him down," she ordered Hera. Hera's vines tightened, and the man grunted in pain. Hilda grabbed the lone ball on the police chief's chest bandolier. She pointed it at the reuniclus and pressed the button.

A hulking gurdurr appeared, and looked around in confusion. It bellowed upon seeing its master and charged towards Hilda and I. My hand dropped to my belt and I finally released Vermais. Vermais instantly grasped the situation and spat a jet of water at the gurdurr. The gurdurr changed direction, trampling after Vermais as he bounded away.

I looked at Hilda, and scanned the room. Chilli and Cress had been joined by Cilan, who had sent out his own green monkey to join Chilli and Cress' blue and red monkeys. Ethan was stalking around the gurdurr with his crossbow trained on the beast, waiting for a clear shot. His xatu and Vermais were harrying the gurdurr, staying away from the giant fighter's meaty fists.

I reached down, and grabbed the massive knife that was strapped to the police chief's thigh. I looked at Hilda with a wild look in my eye. "This ought to get everyone's attention." I remarked. Before she could stop me, I had bolted towards the gurdurr.

Vermais saw me coming, and darted towards the gurdurr. The gurdurr bellowed and turned away from Ethan's xatu. Ethan's xatu rose off the floor, blasting the gurdurr with all the psychic energy it could muster. The gurdurr turned again, leaving its back to me.

My feet pounded the hardwood floor as I raced towards the gurdurr. I planted my right foot and jumped as high as I could. I landed on the gurdurr's back and buried the police chief's knife up to its hilt in the beast's fleshy shoulder.

The gurdurr reacted violently and spun angrily, trying to grab me and crush me for daring to harm it. Vermais added to the chaos, aiming for the gurdurr's eyes with a jet of water. Vermais' aim was true, and the gurdurr recoiled angrily. A blast of psychic energy knocked it off balance and I rolled off its back, tearing the knife free with a spray of dark red blood.

I landed on my side, and rolled to my side. I hit the news desk and looked up at the gurdurr. It wobbled under the sustained barrage of psychic power, then slowly tipped towards me.

I looked up and realized what was about to happen. "Oh fuck," I swore. Then the gurdurr fell on the news desk, crushing it with me underneath.


	6. I Hate Hospitals

**They say that fear is the mind killer. I say that fear is an excellent motivator. It can unite a country, or tear it apart. Fear is a tool used by those who are bold enough to wield it. Make no mistake, I intend to be bold. – Steven Stone, Crown Prince of Hoenn**

* * *

Have you ever had a gurdurr fall on top of you? No? I didn't think so. On average, they weigh around three-hundred pounds and stand at about seven feet tall. They're some hefty fuckers. Want to hear the doctor's report? Four fractured ribs, mild concussion, broken nose, fractured jaw, punctured lung, broken clavicle, dislocated shoulder, shattered kneecap, some mild internal bleeding and a well-earned trip to Striaton General Hospital. I was told that it's a miracle I wasn't hurt worse. I was told that I'm lucky to be alive. With all the shit I've been through since then, I don't know if I'd call it luck anymore.

The cameras caught everything. I'll give that fat director credit for that much. He didn't miss one second of the fight. All of Striaton saw me get my ass kicked on live television. He kept the cameras rolling right up until Ethan's xatu tore that green blob to pieces. We must've made for some damn good TV because when I woke up in the hospital two nights later, I learned that the broadcast had sparked a riot that had engulfed half of downtown Striaton. The police department had collapsed under both the strain of attempting to control the riots and the loss of their police chief. I don't even think the mayor officially disbanded them before the riots engulfed their headquarters.

The only thing that stopped the riots from completely tearing apart the city was its gym leaders. The mayor of Striaton granted them emergency powers, and allowed them to commission a force of trainers to help restore order. The remains of the old police department either ran when the headquarters burned down or joined up with the triplets. They didn't really restore order, instead they just kinda contained the riots and let them burn themselves out. With how big of a mess the old police department had left, it was all they could do.

For my part in the whole mess, I was awarded some big fancy medal that supposedly signified my outstanding moral compass and sacrifice for the greater good of the people. As nice as it was, it wasn't the badge that I still needed to earn. I told the mayor as much when he presented it to me. The next day, a little box showed up with my breakfast. Can you guess what was inside? Chilli even left me a nice little note telling me that I didn't have anything left to prove to him. Now that was the reward I wanted.

Hilda barely even left my bedside while I was in the hospital. I know that she blamed herself for letting me take on that gurdurr alone, even if I told her not to. She didn't sleep until I woke up, and it took me nearly shouting at her to get her to take a nap in one of the chairs in my room. Even if she was miserable, I needed the company. Two months in a hospital bed was a long time, and watching television can only take up so much time.

A few days after I woke up, Ethan showed up carrying half a dozen boxes. He was leaving Unova in the morning, going to Orre on some business trip. He left his number in the pair of X-Tranceivers that he bought as a parting gift. His best present? A small crossbow that I had no clue how to use and a brand new set of carbon fibre armour for Hilda. He even promised to check up on us while he was in Orre, and maybe come back to Unova when he was done.

My mum showed up one week into my stay at the hospital. She was her usual fussy self, and insisted on being the one to take care of my every need. I'll admit that I missed that and with my ass kicked so hard that I was confined to bed rest, I wasn't gonna complain. She nearly cried when she was leaving for home, but I think she knew I'd be fine. I wasn't coming home just because I wound up in the hospital, and with my promise to call her every night she went home without an argument.

For the most part, I just stayed in bed. As frustrating as it was, there wasn't anything I could do. I just kinda sat there and watched the news with Vermais on my lap, or played cards with Hilda. Just about everyone had an opinion on my little turn on the news. Most of the talking heads thought that I was just some kid who did something stupid and kicked off a riot on purpose just to start shit. There were a few who defended me though, which really surprised me. Looking back now, all the League coverage, and news reports make me sound like some perfect training idol that knew what he was doing at every turn and always did the right thing. Well before I made it to the league and all the shit at that god forsaken castle went down, the media liked to portray me as a troublemaker. I suppose that's fair. I hadn't saved everyone's lives yet.

After the first month in bed, I pretty much forced Hilda out. She still had a badge to earn, and as much as I missed her for that second month, she needed to train for her battle. I even sent Vermais to help her train, as well as get him back into fighting shape. My first day out of the hospital? Hilda's gym battle.

I was sitting front row with the biggest, greasiest burger that I had been able to find. Vermais kept glancing at it hungrily, waiting for me to offer him a bite. I scarfed down the first half of the burger, then looked down at my pokemon. "Fine, but I'm not sharing next time." I took another bite, then held out the remaining half of the burger.

Vermais devoured the burger like he'd been handed a morsel fit for the gods. He looked up at me, barbecue sauce and grease staining his face, and let out a satisfied burp.

"You eat like a tepig, you know that?"

He just grinned back up at me with the same toothy grin that he always did. Before I could say another word, a horn blared and the screen on the far side of the gym lit up. Hilda's smiling trainer photo appeared, with two pokeballs lighting up beside it. I raised my eyebrow and glanced down at Vermais.

"Looks like Hilda made an addition to her team and forgot to mention it."

He didn't make a noise, and barely even acknowledged that I had spoken.

I turned my head away from the screen and looked at Vermais. He cocked his head to the right and grinned at me. "You bastard," I started. "You know what it is, don't you?" Once again, he didn't answer. "Fucking traitor."

I looked back up at the screen, and saw Chilli's face looking down at me. A picture of his red monkey appeared beside his own, along with the picture of a herdier. The door opened on Chilli's side of the field, and he stepped out. I'll give the cocky bastard some credit, he knew how to make an entrance. He had spotlights trained on him and flames coming out of the floor on either side of him. He strolled up to his platform and stepped onto it. His eyes found mine as his platform raised into position and he flashed me a grin.

Now, as badass as Chilli thought he was, Hilda knew how to pull off an entrance even better. She stepped through her door, her eyes firmly trained on Chilli. She cracked her knuckles and started walking slowly and carefully. The small crowd that was there to spectate the day's matches was hushed by Hilda's calm presence. She stepped onto her own platform, removing one of the balls from the belt on her waist. It slowly raised until it was even with Chilli's.

Chilli released his first pokemon, the herdier, and looked across the field at Hilda. She smiled at him like nothing was wrong, and released Hera. Her snivy appeared on the field, staring down the larger herdier with contempt.

On paper, this couldn't have looked like a worse match for Hilda. She had sent out a snivy that was barely more than an infant out to fight a nearly fully-grown herdier. It's a good thing that the match wasn't fought on paper. Hera might've lacked speed, strength and endurance, but she more than made up for those deficiencies with craftiness and a sadistic streak a mile long.

An eerie silence descended on the field while those two pokemon sized each other up. A horn blared, and the battle began.

"Use your speed!" Hilda shouted. "Just like we practiced."

Chilli raised his eyebrow. "Test her mobility!" He ordered.

His herdier shot forward, barrelling directly at Hera. Hera threw herself to the right, using her vines to push off the gym floor. She reached back with one of her vines and snaked it around the herdier's front paws. The herdier flipped head over heels, tripped up by Hera's vine. It came down hard on its face and rolled to a stop several feet away. Hera withdrew her vine and puffed out her chest smugly.

The herdier forced itself up, glaring at Hera. It stalked slowly towards Hera, waiting for an order from Chilli. "Slow approach," he ordered. "It might be faster than you, but it's not stronger. Force it to come to you."

The herdier planted its feet, and growled at Hera. Hera flicked her tail back and forth, eying the herdier and searching for an opening. I glanced up at Hilda, expecting to see some nerves. She was still standing in the same position she had been in when she had given her first order.

A movement on the field drew my eyes. The herdier and Hera were circling each other, watching for any gap in the other's defences. The herdier lunged for Hera, attempting to break the stalemate. It's jaws clamped down on air, Hera having thrown herself out of the way with her vines. The herdier didn't hesitate and leapt at Hera before she could recover. It came down on top of Hera as she skidded away. The herdier's jaws found their way around Hera's midsection and clamped down with as much force as they could muster.

Hera struggled violently, whipping the herdier with her vines. One vine wrapped around the herdier's upper jaw, and the other around the bottom. I glanced up at the screen for a moment, and caught Hilda's order at the perfect moment.

"Let the storm loose!"

Hera wrenched the herdier's jaws open with strength that I didn't know she had. She held herself above the herdier's open maw, and launched a veritable tornado of leaves into the herdier's mouth. The effect was instantaneous. The herdier shook Hera off and proceeded to retch violently. Hera didn't waste a second. She landed on her feet and instantly extended her vines towards the herdier. She wrapped her vines around the herdier's back legs and lifted it into the air.

Chilli was desperately shouting orders for his herdier, but the pokemon could do nothing but hang from Hera's vines. The view screen caught Hilda's order perfectly again.

"Ground and pound!"

Hera lifted the herdier as high as she could, stretching her vines to their fullest extent. The herdier hung there for half a second before Hera smashed it down into the gym floor with enough force to leave a small crater in the dirt. Hera lifted the herdier again, intent to make another herdier sized dent in the ground. Before she could finish the blow, Chilli held out the herdier's ball and returned it.

"That round was only the appetizer," he said. He pocketed his herdier's ball and pulled out another one. "Lets see how you handle the main course!" He released his simisear with a cocky grin. "Your move, little lady."

Hilda didn't even let the banter faze her in the slightest. She just held out Hera's ball and returned her starter. She put away Hera's ball, and pulled out her second ball. I leaned forward in my seat, eagerly awaiting Hilda's new pokemon. I saw her mutter something to the ball, then tap the button.

A squat brown pokemon with a long snout and a wicked set of claws appeared on the gym floor. She had caught a drilbur, one of the wiliest, most willful species of pokemon that weren't restricted to trainers with at least four gym badges. Hilda had one big set of balls on her if she was intending on raising that drilbur into an excadrill. My jaw dropped to the floor, and I looked up at Hilda. She shot back a cocky grin before returning her eyes to the field.

"If you think that little rodent is gonna bring Char down, then you're out of your mind."

"We'll see," retorted Hilda. She looked down at her drilbur and her grin faded a little bit. "Bo?" She asked hesitantly. Her drilbur looked up at her timidly, then back at the simisear. "Hide and seek."

The horn blared, signifying the start of the second round. Bo the drilbur launched himself at the simisear hesitantly, claws extended in an attempt to gut the red monkey. The simisear was quicker though and leapt out of the drilbur's way, taking advantage of Bo's hesitation and spitting a ball of flame at the little brown pokemon as he leapt. Bo puffed out his chest to take the blow, the flames singeing the coarse brown hairs on his chest.

"Get underground! He's faster and stronger than you are." Hilda shouted to her pokemon.

The simisear launched another ball of flame at Bo, clearly fine with keeping the fight at at distance. Bo rolled to his side, barely avoiding the first ball of flame. He came up with his claws extended, ready to tear into the simisear. Another ball of flame slammed into his face, blinding him. Bo stumbled backwards, shaking his head in a vain attempt to put the flames on his head out. The simisear took advantage of the blinded Bo, and bounded towards him. It launched at Bo and landed a flying kick that sent him bouncing across the gym floor.

"BO!" Hilda shrieked. "GET UNDERGROUND NOW!"

Bo struggled to his feet, clearly hurting from the beating that the simisear was administering. The simisear reared up, intent to let off another barrage of fireballs. Bo decided to listen to Hilda, if only to save his own skin. He disappeared underground, burrowing away from the simisear's flames.

The simisear looked around nervously, knowing that Bo could strike at any time. Bo burst from the dirt half a foot behind the simisear, all hesitation gone from his movements. He landed on its back and dug his claws in deep. The simisear bucked wildly, attempting to throw Bo off. Bo held fast, the simisear's movements only serving to dig Bo's claws in deeper.

"Fire Spin!" Chilli shouted.

His simisear glowed brilliantly, heat washing off it in waves. A tornado of flames erupted from its mouth, engulfing the pair of pokemon. I couldn't help but admire Chilli's brazen strategy. He knew that his simisear could take the heat without a problem, but Bo? If the drilbur wanted to stay where he was then he was gonna end up getting cooked alive.

"BO, BACK UNDERGROUND NOW!" Hilda shouted.

Bo either didn't hear her or decided not to listen. Hell, maybe he did hear her and just realized that there was no way he would get back underground before the simisear caught him. Nobody even saw what happened. Bo bounced out of the tornado of flames, smoke curling off his body and patches of fur still smouldering. The tornado of flame collapsed on itself and dissipated, revealing a simisear that was flat on its back.

Bo forced himself up onto one knee and looked over at the simisear cautiously. It struggled to rise off the ground then fell back to the dirt, unconscious. Chilli reluctantly raised his pokeball and returned his simisear, conceding the match. His platform jerked into motion and started descending to the floor.

Hilda returned Bo and her platform slowly started descending. It touched the ground and she stepped onto the field towards Chilli.

He met her halfway across the field with one of his bone crushing handshakes. They exchanged a short conversation, and then Chilli turned to face the crowd. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Striaton City Gym badge he held it out for the crowd to see, then pressed it into Hilda's palm.

A smattering of applause broke out from the small crowd, with one exception. I was hooting and hollering as loud as my lungs would let me. Hilda admired the badge for a moment, then looked up at me. She raised the badge above her head and closed her eyes, content to revel in the moment until it passed. And you know what? I was too.


End file.
